Through the Eyes of the Zimbabwean
The first sound you hear as morning arrives over Harare is the soft, rhythmic note of a single key on an mbira being plucked, blended with the distant call of a hadada ibis and the aroma of fresh sadza (maize porridge) and muriwo (greens) drifting from a nearby home. That mbira sound carries our story back to a time of savanna and rivers, when we lived as the peoples of Zimbabwe: the Shona, Ndebele, Tonga, Venda, and many others. Our ancestors built Great Zimbabwe with stone walls that seemed to touch the sky, mastered the trade of gold and ivory to the coast, grew sorghum and millet in fertile soil. The Shona knew their mhondoro (ancestor spirits) and their knowledge of the land, the Ndebele their warriors and cattle, the Tonga their sacred places along the Zambezi. Every family knew the stories of the ancestors, the dances around the fire that filled the night with rhythm, the communities where sharing was natural and respect for elders was law. That was our golden time: a land of savanna, hills, and rivers, where people lived in harmony with the Zambezi as mother and the hills as father, connected through mbira, cattle, and stories.
But then came the wave from outside, rising like a storm from the south. The British colonized us in the 19th century as Southern Rhodesia, took our land for white farmers, forced us into labour in mines and on farms. Every family knew the loss: an ancestor who lost land in the Land Apportionment Act, a child taught that freedom was forbidden, a culture forced to adapt. Independence in 1980 brought Robert Mugabe—hope that bloomed with "Zimbabwe"—but also Gukurahundi in the 1980s where tens of thousands of Ndebele were killed, the land reforms of 2000 that brought chaos, hyperinflation, hunger, and millions who fled. Every family knew the pain, the disappearances, the emptiness in the villages of Matabeleland.
From that depth rises a pride that is deep and resilient. The mbira still plays its melodies, sadza shared with love, Victoria Falls roaring to show the world how powerful we are. Our people laugh through hardships, our young rise for a better country, our bonds stronger than crisis. We have reclaimed our voice: the hope that still burns along the Zambezi, the unity growing in the villages.
Yet the truth colours magenta like a sunset over the Matopos hills. The scars remain: Gukurahundi etched in memory, the land reforms that brought chaos, poverty in the villages, the emigration of youth. The outside world buys our tobacco and our tourism, but often fails to feel the depth of a people that never broke.
Still, we remember in silence: around the mbira where music is born, on Independence Day the 18th of April when we raise our flag, in the hills where spirits still speak—never forgetting who we were. We tell our children of Great Zimbabwe and of independence, of the river and the savanna, so they know: we were connected and strong before the challenges came.
And yet… the mbira continues, soft and deep, like a promise drifting over the savanna. That is our secret: we have suffered under colonisation, violence, and crisis, but first we were a land of stone and rhythm. For our children we build no walls, but a hill where everyone may stand. How do we let that mbira sound bring hope once more to all? How does Zimbabwe remain a home of resilience and unity?
January 2026
Manna Ori
Kuburikidza NemaZiso eMuZimbabwe
Izwi rekutanga raunonzwa kana mangwanani asvika paHarare ndere ruzha rwakapfava, rwune mutinhimira rwembira rwuri kurira kamwe chete, rwakasanganiswa nekurira kure kwegondo remvura pamwe chete nekunhuhwirira kwesadza nyowani nemuriwo kubva mumba iri padyo. Izwi rembira rinotakura nyaya yedu kudzokera kunguva yemafuro nemativi enzizi, apo taigara sevanhu veZimbabwe: maShona, maNdebele, maTonga, maVenda nevamwe vazhinji. Vatateguru vedu vakavaka Great Zimbabwe nematombo akasimuka kudenga, vakatonga kutengeserana kwegoridhe nezhongororo kuenda kumhenderekedzo yegungwa, vakarima sorghum nemillet muvhu rakaorera. MaShona aiziva mhondoro yavo (mweya yevatateguru) neruzivo rwavo rwepasi, maNdebele mauto avo nemombe, maTonga nzvimbo dzavo dzinoyera pamwe chete neZambezi. Mhuri yega yega yaiziva nyaya dzevatateguru, mitambo yekutamba pamoto yakazadza husiku nehutinhimira, nharaunda dzaigovana zvinhu zvakajairika uye kuremekedza vakuru kwaiva mutemo. Iyo yaiva nguva yedu yegoridhe: nyika yemafuro, makomo nemativi enzizi, apo vanhu vaigara muhuwiriranire neZambezi samai nemakomo sababa, vakabatana kuburikidza nembira, mombe nenyaya.
Asi ipapo kwakauya ruzha kubva kunze, rwakasimuka semhepo kubva kumaodzanyemba. MaBritish vakatitorera nyika muzana ramakore rechi19 seSouthern Rhodesia, vakatora ivhu redu kuvapambi vachena, vakatimanikidza kushanda mumigodhi nemapurazi. Mhuri yega yega yaiziva kurasikirwa: mutateguru akarasikirwa neivhu muLand Apportionment Act, mwana akadzidziswa kuti rusununguko rwakarambidzwa, tsika yedu yakamanikidzwa kuchinja. Rusununguko muna 1980 rwakauya naRobert Mugabe—tariro yakabukira ne"Zimbabwe"—asi zvakare Gukurahundi mumakore e1980 apo zviuru zvemaNdebele zvakaurayiwa, shanduko yevhu muna 2000 yakauya mhirizhonga, hyperinflation, nzara nemamirioni akatiza. Mhuri yega yega yaiziva kurwadziwa, kutsakatika, kusarira muMatabeleland.
Kubva mukudzika uku kunobuda kuzvikudza kwakadzika uye kwakasimba. Mbira ichiri kurira nhetembo dzayo, sadza rinogovana nerudo, Victoria Falls inorira kuratidza nyika kuti tine simba sei. Vanhu vedu vanoseka pakati pezvipingamupinyi, vechidiki vanosimuka kuti vawane nyika iri nani, kusungana kwedu kwakasimba kudarika dambudziko. Takadzokorora izwi redu: tariro ichiri kupisa pamativi enzizi, kubatana kuri kukura mumisha.
Asi chokwadi chinoratidza magenta sezuva richinyura paMatopos Hills. Maronda anoramba aripo: kuyeukwa kweGukurahundi, shanduko yevhu yakauya mhirizhonga, hurombo mumisha, kutiza kwevechidiki, kuyeukwa kwe one-party state. Nyika yekunze inotenga fodya yedu neturism, asi kazhinji haizivi kudzika kwevanhu vasina kumbobvira vakaputsika.
Zvakadaro tinorangarira murunyararo: kutenderedza mbira apo mimhanzi inoberekwa, paIndependence Day musi wa18 Kubvumbi patinosimudza mureza wedu, mumisha umo mweya ichiri kutaura—hatimbokanganwa kuti takanga tiri ani. Tinoudza vana vedu nezveGreat Zimbabwe nekusununguka, nezveRwizi neMafuro, kuti vazive: takanga takabatana uye takasimba zvisati zvaitika matambudziko.
Uye zvakadaro… mbira inoramba ichienderera, yakapfava uye yakadzika, sechipikirwa chinenge chichifamba pamusoro pemafuro. Icho ndicho chakavanzika chedu: takatambura pasi pekoloni, mhirizhonga nedambudziko, asi pekutanga takanga tiri nyika yematombo nehutinhimira. Kune vana vedu hativaki madziro, asi chikomo umo munhu wese angamira. Tingaita sei kuti izwi rembira riyambe kutakura tariro kune wese? Zimbabwe ingaramba iri imba yekusimba uye kubatana sei?
Ndira 2026
Manna Ori